Recently I have been reminded that business ethics remains a huge area of debate. First was a recent article in the FT that suggests there are lessons business can learn from organised crime.  A business lesson from mafia mobsters.

Cynics will no doubt not be surprised by the linkage between business and crime, but better to [...]

The blogosphere and media has of recent years focussed on the characteristics and traits of people classified as either Generation X or Generation Y, and the interplay of tensions that may or may not exist between the two and their seniors in the so called Baby Boom Generation. Meanwhile, if the ILO is to [...]

“I would tell you to go to Hell but I work there and I don’t want to see you every day.”

The above quote is apparently available as a fridge magnet in the USA …. no comment required!

Writing in the FT recently Lynda Gratton asked readers if they could feel the wind of change heading for [...]

The headlines in France are awash with the latest revelations in “ L’affaire Bettencourt”. In today’s newpapers the ramifications went straight to the top and the heart of the French political system – Nicholas Sarkozy. Swift denials have been issued and no doubt investigations will put an end to such suggestions. However for [...]

The FT’s management columnist, Lucy Kellaway, is always well worth following for a down to earth, sharp and often wryly amusing approach to management. Her most recent column “Principles for living that we could all do without” takes a highly critical look at the set of Principles that the CEO of Bridgewater [...]

The prophet Cassandra warned the city of Troy to beware of Greeks bearing gifts, but Cassandra was cursed to foretell the future yet never be believed. The city’s citizens took in the famous wooden horse, and the rest as they say is history. Over the past few weeks many leaders in Europe [...]

For many people “work” still remains a necessary evil – it’s too often a case of doing something that has to be done, like it or not, to survive in the modern world. The dark satanic mills evoked by William Blake in Jerusalem may have almost disappeared in the developed economies, and employers constantly [...]

Early last week INSEAD Knowledge sent me one of their newsletter updates. Given Marc’s earlier post on the worst for leadership I thought it might be interesting to look at what the people over at INSEAD think is the best of leadership.

Here is the link to their list of the 200 top performing CEO’s [...]

Competing for the attention of the talented is a something of a challenge these days, and in the online soundbite world you need to grab attention fast; first impressions count. Beyond first impressions, attracting people today, particularly those young talented high potentials we read so much about, companies are having to contend [...]

Most of us will have had a feeling or presentiment about another person and have, if we are honest, allowed it to influence our judgement. There is a legend that says most people either get a job / second interview based on the first 30 seconds of the meeting – perhaps this is an [...]

This weeks post is a tour de force on leadership between Marc and I! Not surprisingly corporate leaders tend to accentuate “the good”, whereas more often you will hear the “the bad and the ugly” from employees, customers, partners  and the general public or non corporate world. In a fast changing and often turbulent [...]

Following on from Sally Bibb’s earlier post on Generational Diversity Strategies.

There have lately been no shortage of articles on the ageing workforce and no shortage of comments on how to employ them either! The Economist got in the on the act with a piece called The Silver Tsunami, the author concludes that it is [...]

Spy vs. Spy was, and may still be, a regular cartoon feature in Mad Magazine. The cartoons contain no dialogue and features two spies, one black one white, locked in an eternal struggle in which they are constantly trying to get the better of each other in ever more elaborate ways. Originally conceived as [...]

The following post has been reproduced by kind permission of Sally Bibb, Director at talentsmoothie. Sally will respond to comments on this post.

Have you ever wondered why so many of the people responsible for ‘diversity and inclusion’ report to the CEO, or another very senior person? If you are a cynical person you might say that [...]

In the 1540’s the world was in some respects no less turbulent or unpredictable than it is today. It is the decade when Ivan the Terrible came to power as Tsar of Russia, and the Turks began their 150 year occupation of Hungary. It also when the Spanish were busy discovering the Americas, [...]

Over at Harvard Business Review Tammy Erickson writes up her “Predictions for 2010: Five Changes in the Way We work”. This is an interesting comment and one I commend to readers of this blog; her predictions seem not only to be spot on but also have considerable implications for the way people are managed [...]

Marc’s previous post discussing “the very fat and lazy” put me in mind of the HR Director at BKV, Eleonóra Szilágyi Szalainé. I have met many HR Directors over the past several years; and I don’t recall this one as being either exceptional or typical, but it appears that she did develop a uniquely personal [...]

Geoff Immelt of GE’s comments on leadership in his speech at West Point made the headlines this week but it was the following remark that made the media sit up.

“ I think we are at the end of a difficult generation of business leadership, and maybe leadership in general. Tough-mindedness, a good trait – was replaced by [...]

Leadership is a topic that is often the subject of heated debate, especially what does and does not constitute leadership, whether leaders are born or made, and who is, and is not, worthy of the title leader.  The one thing most will likely agree on is that a fundamental pre-requisite for any leader is to [...]

Much is written and spoken on the subject of recent generations – Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and now Generation Z!

There are far too many generalisations and assumptions being made based on generational classification.  Stefan Stern writing in the Financial Times Management blog discusses that it is life stages that make the difference [...]